Learn how to grow and use medicinal herbs, adaptogen herbs such as Jiaogulan, and herbal medicine to create vibrant health and an enriched life style. There are a number of herbs you can grown at home which is fun and great for your health.
Learn Tips on feeding your pets and livestock naturally with organic greens such as Comfrey, Kudzu, plantain, and Moringa. Get back to your roots in a healthy way.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Many of you who read my articles have insurance but don't have the money to buy herbs. I am writing about Tagamet (cimetidine), an OTC drug only because Shingles is so miserable and the antiviral drugs are really expensive. Tagamet is easy for you to obtain to get relief sooner. It has been known for over 20 years that Tagamet will help reduce the symptoms of Shingles and Herpes, yet the majority of doctors will not tell patents about it. It all has to do with money. The drug companies and the doctors make little money on prescribing Tagamet but do make money on the expensive anti-viral drugs. To get an anti-viral drug, you probably will have to pay a co-pay at the least to see a doctor to get the prescriptions. That is criminal when a less expensive and easily obtainable drug is right at the corner drug store.How does Tagamet work?

Tagamet is taken by patients to relieve symptoms of esophageal reflux such as heartburn. It is over the counter and popular. Research shows that it has been shown to reduce symptoms on both Shingles and Herpes.

T-suppressor cells are one of the problems in immune function. The T-cells fight infection and are part of your immune system function that keeps you healthy. So Tagamet helps boost your immune function by stopping these T-suppressor cells from increasing. It has the effect of reducing the severity and length of side effects caused by both herpes and Shingles.

The dosage is to take 200 mg of cimetidine three times and a day and 400mg at night before you go to sleep. Which drug wouldyou promote if you were a drug company making money from your products? Both drugs are used to lessen the effects of Shingles and Herpes.Acyclovir which runs $112 to $206 dollars per one months supply depending on the dose or Tagamet that is only $38.00 for the same dosage? It is all about money.This is an example of how drug companies extract trillions of dollars from patients.I presented this article to help those of you without medical insurance or the money to buy herbs. I don't take drugs very often unless nothing else works for me. That has not been very often. Read my past blog here for how to address Shingles with herbs and alternative medicine.

I always knew my ideas were before their time. Well today is Wednesday and I found this article on the main page of Yahoo news that confirmed my view on duck therapy. My sister saw it on the evening news. A duck making national headlines in a rarity. I imagine this duck will now get a Twitter and Facebook page of his own. He will receive more email than I do in a year. The duck deserves every email she gets. The article is about a woman who has PTSD, who uses a duck as a service animal so to speak. The duck was given clearance by her mental health doctor to be declared a service animal. She is more respectful than some dog owners, the duck is wearing a diaper and on a leash. Here is the story hereof the duck who flew with the woman on the airlines. Since ducks are not easily house trained, Daniel the duck wears a diaper for the trip. You may think that is foolish, but only if you never watched ducks playing in a pool of clean water. Ducks and chickens do have personalities and it is easy to get attached to them. Many people never experiencing anything but dogs and cats, have no idea on how much personality they do have. Ask any kid who has raised a animal in 4-H. I don't raise my animals in dirty cages. My ducks and chickens spend their life in a huge yard in the morning, then allowed to forage over about an acre until just before dark. They are kept in a large protected coop lined with straw which is 12 by 12 at night. So ducks can be raised in tiny, dirty pens or with quality of life. Ducks are pretty awesome. You can not enjoy them or see their personality locked in a tiny, dirty pen. To be fair, if you are a farmer who intends on eating them, it is not a good idea to get attached. Even if you are going to eat them, they should be kept in pens with room and water to play in. All farm animals should have quality of life, regardless of their future. The reality of most farm animals is grim. I raise mine for eggs. Duck eggs are wonderful. Ducks eat ticks and bugs plus weeds. Their manure is great for plants. Even if were good for nothing else but smiles, they would be worth the expense and trouble. It is cruel to keep a duck as a therapy service animal (they are waterfowl not classified as animals)? It is funny we call them farm animals when they are really in a class all their own.

The woman probably has a yard for her at home, although it gives no details. Ducks do not need to be in water all the time. You can let them play in the bathtub until they are done, drain the water and bleach the tub. Bleach does an awesome job. They could be quite fine given a small yard with some grass and a large dishpan of water. They survive here in the winter when the grass is all dead. I feel it is better generally to have more than one duck since they are a flock animal but some ducks or chickens bond with a human. If you start them out in a flock, most ducks would be unhappy separated. If you hatch a baby duck or chick from an egg and he never sees another of its kind, the duck thinks he is human. If the first thing he sees is a cat, he will think he is a cat. What they see coming out of the shell is what is imprinted in their brains. They still will always want to play in water, even if it's the dog's water bowl. I let a chicken hatch out a duckling once. The baby got big enough to get into the water bowl. The mother chicken had a fit seeing the baby duck in the water. To her he was in danger. Ducks do require water deep enough to clean out the nose holes on their bill. They do need a big, low -sided bucket of water. I would say, that overall that dogs and other non-flock animals make better therapy for people. I know people with pet chickens will disagree with that statement. Most people do not leave their chickens in the house all day. They don't house train easily either. So if this duck is happy living with her human, it is not mean. I might add that most ducks can be very loud when upset. Female ducks are very noisy and male ducks make little noise. The males are brightly colored with a curl in their tail. They are very quiet. In the short video I saw, it looks like he has a duck hand puppet to keep her company.

A note about ducks as pets....

Most ducks are not cuddly like dogs and cats and do not make good pets for young children who have not been taught how to treat them. They can hurt you when frightened and fighting you. Handling them often when babies is important. You must teach your dogs not to hurt them. They panic easily and then are easily killed. They are best kept where they have room to roam and just be ducks. This duck would be an exception to the rule. Most Indian Runner ducks are nervous and quirky. They walk upright and are raised for their eggs. They are not eaten. There is not much meat on them. I say this so you don't go run out and buy a duck for your toddler. This is a SPECIAL duck given a lot of handling. Children raised on farms are taught the proper handling of farm creatures.Service therapy animals and emotional service animals are not just dogs. Service animals help humans who have diseases, are physically limited or mentally limited, and for those with severe PTSD and anxiety disorders of all kinds. Horses are used with kids to help them emotionally and physically overcome problems. They are used with kids and adults to help them communicate better. They can sniff out cancer and give the dying comfort. Any animal can be used as a service animal if it performs the task of calming one down who suffers from PTSD or anxiety disorder. Dogs, ducks, or cats it doesn't matter. It is better therapy than drugs that do more harm than good. Servicemen every day commit suicide here in the US. They serve our country protecting us, then come home with life long disabilities. The ones you can't see may be worse than the leg that is missing. Dogs have shown to be one of the best tools to help men and women with anxiety and PTSD. Instead of drugs, we should be spending many thousands to provide VETS and those with anxiety, animals trained for PTSD therapy.

For the Love of ducks!

I have loved ducks since I was a kid. They are messy but their benefits outweigh that aspect. I personally prefer them outside in our yard. Ducks are funny creatures. When you give them new water in their kiddie pool, they duck in and out of the water quacking with joy. Don't let anyone ever tell you that ducks don't like clean water. Their water is changed every other day. They sift mud into it so it stays clean for all of about two hours. Many times they have this soft quack that is very calming. They talk to each other about a frog they found or a juicy night crawler. I bring them treats of watermelon and they quack with happiness. It is real funny when the rooster goes to breed one of the hens, she protests, and one of the ducks will go over and goose the rooster. Its like get off her, she does not want you bothering her. When I treat one of the ducks with an eye infection using C. silver, they quack in protest, and the hens will come over to protect it.

When things get tough, I get duck therapy every time! When things are tough with my father-in-law who is in later stage dementia, I go down and hang out with the ducks for a few minutes. If they do not bring the smile back to my view, I am indeed in trouble. Someone on Facebook once suggested I may prefer ducks and chickens to people. On some days that is very true. So three cheers for duck therapy!

Sunday, October 16, 2016

The difficulty of getting a correct diagnosis with rashes and Shingles!

Herbalists Shouldn’t get sick is a view by many people who don’t understand the real point.

Herbalists
do suffer health issues. Many of us discovered alternative medicine because of those health issues. One big difference between herbalists and people
who don't use herbs is alternative medicine. Herbalists use natural
medicine the majority of the time to deal with their health issues. It
isn't that we don't have health issues, it’s that we deal with them with
a different attitude and set of tools. One auto accident and a nasty
fall added to some bad genetics have caused me to explore and find
answers in alternative medicine.

Most of you don't know this, but I
worked for doctors when I was young. I was a lab and medical assistant.
I also worked with the drug salesmen that came to call on the doctors. I
helped order drugs for the outreach clinic that serviced the Indian
reservation in San Diego, County. In those days, before the casinos and
the money that came with that, the people were so bad off. There was TB
and many sick children and adults. I both worked and believed in the
standard medical system. It was only after my youngest was born and had
serious immune system problems that standard medicine could not solve,
did I delve into alternative medicine for answers. I got my Master
Herbalist degree to help her.

After a year of antibiotics, I could
see they were making her worse not better. In those days, doctors did
not realize that long term antibiotic use hurts the immune function and
sets up drug resistant problems in the body. I saw it and they told me I
was crazy. I was told that antibiotic resistance could not happen. I
saw it happening. I took her and myself off the standard medicine grid
to the displeasure of my husband then. It was her life at stake. I was
right to do so. So I have a standard medical background, as well as,
alternative medicine. There are fewer herbalists out there with a solid
background in both worlds.

It was during my third pregnancy that
my right leg's vein system with genetic weaknesses, failed to hold up.
The vein system failure ended up resulting in phlebitis or deep vein
inflammation resulting in blood clots on and off . I used alternative
medicine then and now to keep me out of the hospital and alive. I have
worked with my leg with alternative medicine for 38 years successfully.
Instead of taking blood thinning drugs which have pages of side effects,
I have used alternative medicine.

So reoccurring shingles is one
health issue I have dealt with over the past 5 years. Up to this time,
it was a very mild case always over a small patch of skin. It did not
affect my life much, more annoyance than anything else. The original
cause was a burn that got infected, and then later was affected by
Shingles as a result.

Shingles often attacks damaged areas of skin. The
Shingles vaccine does not stop Shingles outbreaks completely in all
people but reduces the outbreaks and severity in many. I know because I
got one reluctantly. I had felt up to this point that perhaps the shot
had been beneficial but am now questioning that it had any value at all.
Perhaps changing my diet to exclude chocolate and other Arginine foods
was the real reason I had experienced few reoccurrences. I also take
Lysine on a regular basis.

Shingles can be one of the most painful
conditions you can endure. Shingles can involve a small area or a large
area and cause from mild to severe symptoms. Shingles is actually a infection in the nerves of the skin.
Shingles in some people can reoccur, just read the blogs written by
shingles sufferers. I am one of them. The PNR ( postherpetic neuralgia) pain associated with severe shingles can last for weeks or months.What does Severe Shingles with PNR pain feel like? Your
skin is so hypersensitive that even the light touch of your hand brings
pain. It is like a horrendous sunburn that takes weeks to ease. The
pain is part itch and burning pain. You can feel every nerve on the
skin. Clothing feels unbearable. The pain is distracting affecting sleep
and concentration. Those of you who have experienced shingles in the
severe form can back me up on this statement.

Shingles or Poisonous Weed Rash? Misdiagnosis is a real problem. I
am sharing with you my experience with rashes and Shingles to demonstrate just how difficult it is to get a correct diagnosis on a
rash. It may be relevant to your situation and difficulty getting help
in the medical system.I had the misfortune of getting a bad
case of shingles the past two weeks. It was actually thought to be weed
rash from some weed cleanup we did on the property, since my husband's
arms were a mess of rashes as well. I had helped him carry the brush
away from the house, so it stood to reason that was the case. After
using the normal remedies such as tree oil, I had a intensely red and
itchy rash all over my left arm. Then they began spreading over my torso
but I still thought it was from the weeding. I had carried the brush on
that side of my body down the hill. We were both really
miserable.....severely so. We used our typical regimen of tea tree oil
and Goldenseal. It helped his rash but didn't make a dent on mine. Mine
continued to spread. I was perplexed at that point. Why wasn't it
working on my rash?Since our alternative medicine remedies
were not making a dent on the rash, we went to a dermatologist. Her
diagnosis on mine was eczema, which I knew was wrong. She persisted with
her diagnosis, so I gave up. His was diagnosed as a weed rash which was
probably correct. She ignored the fact I was weeding the same area. She
gave us two ointments which did not help mine at all and made them hurt
worse. She would offer me nothing more or consider any other diagnosis.So
I went to plan B thinking it was a bacterial infection on mine, like I
had experienced last year. Gardening here makes it imperative to wear
gloves. But gloves don't cover your arms and torso. Bacterial infections
spread and are nasty to contain at times. I normally use colloidal
silver gel but we were out. The normal regimen Goldenseal and tea tree
oil was not having much effect, which should work on a bacterial
infection. So what next?So I ordered colloidal silver gel
which is expensive but the rash was awful. It took three days to get
here by Amazon Prime. The colloidal silver did stop the itching on the
left arm for the most part but the rash was still spreading from the arm
to the left torso but with different looking huge nasty welts different
than the ones on my arm. I was really stumped. The welts were huge and
severely painful. They felt like someone had burnt the welt deeply into
the skin area. Then the hypersensitivity began to worsen to the whole
area of skin. I could feel it spreading over the nerve paths from the
left side to the right like a blanket of hypersensitivity and pain.It
hit me then that the rash was shingles, not what my husband had or
bacterial. Shingles is about the only rash that comes with severe PNR
pain. Most rashes itch or hurt but does not cause the skin to overall
become hypersensitive to touch. I spent hours researching that aspect of
rashes. The pain was so intense, I wanted to make sure if possible that
it was shingles.So we went to another doctor on a well visit
appointment that had been scheduled for two months. This new doctor
stated, the rash was not eczema but was not sure what it was. She wanted
to send me to doctor who was an expert in infections. She said it
didn't present itself like the classic shingles, even thought the PNR
pain was particular to shingles. The whole rash was affecting the left
side which is a hallmark of shingles. She would not culture it.

So
I went home and decided to see what a regimen of shingles treatment
would do. Even if it was PNR pain from something else, I wanted to try
it since the doctor offered nothing. I might add that the second doctor,
being short handed, did not get to making me another appointment. Out
of sight, out of mind I guess. After two days of calls to them and no
help, I figured I was better off going back to try my own regimen.I
spent a day reviewing rashes and their symptoms. None of them came with
PNR pain or spread mainly on one side of the body. Shingles was the
only rash that meant that criteria. I also saw that the rash did not
always look the same. Some of the pictures looked like the rash on my
arm and some looked more like the welts. It was also stated that
Shingles can cover over a larger area and take over multiple nerve
paths. This was not the classic presentation.

I reviewed research
from a well known holistic clinic, the natural approach to dealing with
Shingles and PNR pain to be sure I was not missing anything that might
help. I had always used Lysine, aloe spray and aloe gel to solve the
problem. I had just purchased a colloidal silver machine and had begun
making my own. The gel is hard to do yourself.How I treated my shingles like rash with PNR pain with natural medicine? I state it this way since I could not get a concrete diagnosis.If
the rash had been staph or bacterial this following regimen would have
been inadequate. The Lysine would not have helped and it would have
needed either heavy duty herbal antibiotics or prescription antibiotics.
Staph is very dangerous because it can take over the blood stream and
kill you. A PROPER diagnosis is important. Mild Shingles case: How I treat my Shingles;
Lysine; 3000 milligrams in divided doses, Vitamin C 3000 mg, B-Complex,
Immune herbs three times a day. I use aloe spray without alcohol which
is hard to find and colloidal silver gel. I buy the aloe online since
the only kind they carry in spray often is the one containing alcohol. I
may use Colloidal silver gel as well both orally and the gel. Colloidal
silver kills pathogens including viruses. This is what I used the two other times when Shingles was concretely diagnosed.

I am sharing with you my program. If
you are taking prescription drugs, you should get your doctor's advice
on your treatment. Call an herbal doctor and get their help. I am a
Master Herbalist who had worked with herbs and my own body for over 30
years. I don't go to doctors unless I need a diagnosis or my program
will not work and I feel its serious. It helps to know for sure what you
are fighting.

The problem with getting a diagnosis is
that between my husband and myself, we have had more wrong diagnosis
than correct diagnosis. No doctor yet has properly diagnosed my
husband’s MRSA staph infections he gets on his arms until the later
stages. One got so bad it required IV treatment. My bacterial infection
last year on my arm from a dirty metal cut was misdiagnosed by three
doctors. That was a stubborn one that ended up taking over both arms. It
seemed to be resistant against anything I tried. Through experience, we
now know how to stop MRSA quickly which will be another blog.

MRSA infections are tough, even with herbal medicine at times.
Often, it takes trial and error to find the right treatment and dosage
to stop a severe staph or bacterial infection no matter which protocol
(standard or alternative) you use. If you only use standard medicine and
they misdiagnose it, refuse to listen to you, and refuse to culture
it.....you will not get your problem solved.

My home treatment for shingles and shingles like rash with PNR pain....severe case. I
had already started alternative medicine when the PNR pain began. I
increased the dosage considerably. With the exception of Esseac and Colloidal Silver and gel, this is part of the protocol from Whole Health Chicago
on shingles treatment. The rest of the Chicago Whole Health protocol is
continued in the rest of this article featured here in my article
directory. This subject needs more discussion than this blog, which is
longer than usual.

1500 mg of Lysine three times a day,

Esseac
tea (4 ounces) every four hours was started. Esseac supports immune
function and helps clean out the blood and whole body of toxins. I used
it on a daily basis but increased the dosage up to 4 ounces, 4 times a
day.

My dosage of B-complex with extra B-12 and herbs such as Valerian and Passion flower that calm nerves were tripled. Calcium and magnesium before bed help to get you more rest.

I took Colloidal silver, 2 ounces every two hours.

I
used colloidal silver gel over all the welts and rashes every couple of
hours. You can try aloe spay or gel over the areas. I used the aloe
spray initially because touching my skin was agony. Its effect was
limited. When that did not seem to reduce the welts adequately or their
effect, I went to the more expensive silver gel. The silver get was much
more effective in the long run. I went through three tubes of silver
gel.

TheChicago Whole Health websiteoffers
more alternative medicine therapy for shingles. I picked some of theirs
and my own to fight this problem. If what I was doing had not worked, I
would have tried more of their suggestions.

By 1 1/2 days later, the shingles plus regimen of treatment had reduced my pain down by 60%
and now only three days later the PNR symptoms are gone completely. The
rash remains but stopped spreading and itching stopped on all of the
rashes and welts. It has now been a week and the welts are still faintly
visible but no symptoms. I could have been feeling better a week sooner
if I had realized it was not a poisonous weed rash. The misdiagnosis by
the first doctor and the other doctors refusal to identify it did not
help either. I normally have really nice skin and have never had acne,
eczema or unhealthy skin conditions. This has been a new unwelcome
experience but hopefully what I learned may help a reader with this
problem.

My husband and I had different rashes that just happened
to occur at the same time. I have to say that rashes are hard to
diagnose for skin doctors. There is a hundred different rashes and they
don't always present themselves in the classic way. When you work at
gardening and in projects around your property, you can run into poison
plants, spider bites, flying bug bites, crawling bugs of every
description, and bacteria in the soil that can cause problems.

Rashes
are one of the hardest problems in medicine. Then there is Shingles,
bacterial and staph to give you more variety. Some rashes are never
identified by a doctor, they don't have a clue.

When doctors are forced by Obama Care to submit pages and pages to the insurance carrier, that results in doctors who have less time to review your chart, less time to talk to you as they type in what you are telling them, and much less time to examine you. Two of my doctor visits came with a statement by the nurse, that the doctor would only have 15 minutes to see me. Wow, now that is sad. I kid you not. How can they really give people proper diagnosis and treatment with 15 minutes.

Monday, September 26, 2016

The controversy over taking Moringa while pregnant and nursing is confusing with all the different sites and the warnings issued. In this blog, I want to present both sides of this contoversy for you to consider.#1: Web MD and other standard medicine sites will state that there has been research to question the use of Moringa during pregnancy and nursing. They will tell you not to take it.

These warnings come from several studies on rats and mice using Moringa in forms such as extracts which resulted in the fetus to be aborted...not just eating the leaves off the tree as more Native people do. There have been less than a handful of published double-blind research studies on actual pregnant or nursing human mothers by science. I could only find one and the link is below.Rats and humans are not the same. Giving Moringa in extracts and in unusual doses is not the true test of how it works with humans taking the Moringa as a food source in normal quantities.

Links to Real projects in Africa treating pregnant and nursing mothers with Moringa leaves. It is interesting that several projects fighting starvation and malnutrition in African countries give Moringa leaves to their pregnant and nursing mothers with no problems. I list two projects and research to the positive that you should read about.

These are real pregnant and nursing mothers who were in severe health due to malnutrition. You would think that if giving Moringa leaves to mothers caused them to abort the babies, that they would stop giving them Moringa. The doctors examining these women would see the abortion effects if they indeed took place. These doctors are out in the villiages, treating pregnant and nursing mothers with poor nutrition. They see these women as the pregnancy goes on. They chart the mothers progress...the pregnancy progress. They should notice a problem of abortion after putting them on Moringa supplementation, if there were problems. Research project links below:http://www.thecultureist.com/2014/09/19/senegal-moringa-tree-food-poor/

"Pregnant women are encouraged to start adding
Moringa leaf powder to their daily food early on in their pregnancy, and to
continue taking it during lactation. Moringa is recommended as an additive to
the food of babies six months or older who are being weaned."http://www.unesco.org/most/bpik10-2.htm

John Hopkins University, who has researched Moringa extensively does not list the leaf as being an 'Abortifacient' See their researchhere .

They do list the bark, flowers, root, and gum as an 'abortifacient'. Again visit the link above.

The issue of contaminated Moringa products

There is the huge issue of Moringa products purchased being contaminated with heavy metals, dirt, insects, mice parts, E-coli, mold, and mildew. There is a lot of problem with the above. Most of the products you are buying are not tested period. If they are tested, it is probably in the country of origin. The labs in these foreign countries have a lot of problems including the labs hiding the negative results from their testing.

All these contaminants can hurt you and your baby.

There is a huge difference between picking leaves off the tree in your yard and buying product that you have no idea about. You know your hands were clean when you picked it yourself, but were the hands that picked it clean? Was the place where they cleaned it or dried it clean or was it infested with mice and rat droppings. Were the chickens running through the area where it was being processed. Some of the products you are buying contain all parts of the Moringa tree including flowers and pods.The bark, roots, flowers should not be eaten when you are pregnant! So if you taking a mixed product, that could cause an abortion.

How many of you know if the product you have purchased contains only leaves or a mixture of all the parts? That is a huge problem if you are pregnant or nursing.

What about the pods?

The pods or Moringa fruit is listed in John Hopkins as an 'Abortifacient'

Along with that, here is the problem with the pods; when they pick the pods, they are picked in mass. Some of the pods may be green, some older, some hard and dried in the pod just like green beans on a vine. The pods are not all the same quality. Some may have mold or bug spots. Some may lack nutritional value at that point they are picked. Pods are harder to sort when in a hurry and harder to clean and dry. Some people report eating too many pods or seeds can cause nausea or a stomach ache. So that is an issue in pregnancy or nursing.

The decision is yours and your doctors in the end.

When in doubt don't use it. Talk to your doctor first. Get his advice before you take anything. During pregnancy, almost any food can cause nausea with some women. Your reaction to a food while pregnant is very different at times than eating that same food when not being pregnant.

Unless you are very certain of the safety of that product...do not take it. If you cannot be sure the product is not contaminated...don't use it. If you have no idea if it is filled with heavy metals and lead, do not take it. Food products from foreign countries often have problems...all of them including Moringa.

Be aware that food products grown in this country can also be contaminated with heavy metals, lead, and arsenic from the chemicals and artificial fertilizers given to the plant during production. Rice is one of them.

Even organic rice and baby food rice has been shown to contain high amounts of arsenic.

Much of the fish today contains mercury, pesticides, prescription drugs, and chemicals. In Nevada, Tennessee and Colorado just to name three there are areas where it is posted not to eat the fish you catch.

In some areas of the United States, such as some areas of Nevada, lead and arsenic is naturally found in the soil. In those areas, you cannot drink your well water. Some well water is too high in iron. Some well water contains high amounts of pesticides. So food produced in this country can be a problem as well.

You have a lot of information to consider. Visit the links of these projects in Africa as well. Then make a decision based on that research and your doctors advice.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

The two most frequent questions asked are," How Much Moringa Should I Take?" and "Should I stop taking my multivitamin?"

Dwarf Moringa trees growing in our house.

The problem with those questions, is there is not simple cookie cutter answer. In many of the projects in countries such as Africa, the people often are starving. Mothers are dying. Their babies are dying because of the lack of food in those areas. Mass starvation with babies who are barely hanging on to life is not America. We do not see bodies on our streets because of starvation. In those situations, Moringa is an easy to grow tree for those families and climate area.

It is a huge tree with lots of edible leaves. It grows leaves quickly after you pick them. It is a food source that is easy and cheap to grow and use. They just pick the leaves off the trees in their yard or in the community.

With all the trees growing in each area, it is education that teaches them that the leaves of the Moringa tree are edible and nutritious. We have over 50 different trees that grow in TN but most of them do not have edible leaves. A few do but how would I know that unless someone told me or I read it. We have May Apples here that grow wild. Most locals do not know that the May Apples can be eaten, even though the plant is not. Only the local herbalists seem to know what is edible in the plants growing here. So it is also true that often people living near the Moringa trees, do not realize you can eat the leaves, pods, and flowers.

In the United States, it only grows year round in places like Florida or Hawaii. In most of the US it is a seasonal tree that will die off in the winter. Water and land is more expensive. Rules and regulations take up thick binders that relate to the Moringa leaves once taken off the trees. So it is not available in your local market in most areas of the U.S. So most Americans have access to it only through buying it in bulk powder, capsules, tea, or extract. Most families eat a diet filled many different foods, some of it junk food and highly processed but their stomachs are not swollen from starvation but from obesity. Neither one of them is good for longevity. Still, our children do not die daily from massive starvation as in parts of Africa suffering from drought and war.

Americans for the most part buy Moringa as a supplement for their diet. How much you need as a fit, healthy person is very different for someone who has marginal nutrition or is starving. In those countries, they eat the fresh leaves or the dried powder in a gruel. They consume a lot of Moringa because they have few quality food sources that are high in protein, calcium, iron, Vitamin A, and all the other nutrients that Moringa contains. If its your ONLY food source for protein and other vital nutrients, you eat a large portion. It is your main nutritional food source.

If you are a picky child who doesn't like to eat vegetables, he would get more than a child who loves their veggies like my granddaughter who is three. If I were a person that was unhealthy, had a lot of health issues, was not eating well, was elderly and had no appetite, I would need more. It that were so, I would have to consume a few tablespoons of the powder. Each person has a different health situation and a different need for a Moringa supplement or any other supplement. There can be NO cookie cutter answer for each person has individual needs for different nutrients.There are now a hundred or so different companies selling Moringa products. Most of them show the product in either grams or ounces. A few of them actually break down their serving information into teaspoons or tablespoons. They actually state how much protein is in a tablespoon of their product.

What you must understand, is that is just a general statement for their product. The actual real amount of protein in each tablespoon is going to vary, along with the other nutrients stated on the label.Most of the research performed on Moringa is stated in grams. That research was performed on samples given to them from different areas. Those quoted nutrients are for that sample only. They are general guidelines to the nutritional value of Moringa.Factors that affect the specific nutritional value for the Moringa you just purchased are many including: area the trees are grown in; soil the trees were grown in; water purity, climate pollution; manner of picking, washing, and drying; the heat the product was dried at; chemicals used if any in the process; how and when it was packaged; how long it sat in the where house; contamination in the equipment; contamination in the storage facilities; and more. Quality equals nutritional value for any given bottle or bag of product.

When they say 100 grams of Moringa contains this much of each ingredient, they are talking about roughly10 tablespoons. That is how much you would have to consume to get the amount of nutrients they are stating. That still doesn't tell you exactly how that compares to the same number of carrots, or other normal food eaten. It gets pretty complicated to do that.

The problem is vegetables in general vary in the nutrients they contain for the same reasons Moringa does. All veggies are not equal for their nutritional value. How long did yours sit in the refrigerator before you cooked them? How long were they at the supermarket? How long did they sit in the where house before being shipped to the market? How many days did they sit at the processing plant? There are few foods that go from the field to the farmers market. Most of them involve a number of steps which reduce their nutritional value. I remember when we lived in Imperial Valley,CA. The huge trucks of picked carrots would sit in the fields for a day or two in the heat before being taken elsewhere. Generally 1 tablespoon of Moringa Powder contains 24 calories, 3.24 grams of protein, 3.6 grams of carbohydrates, 240 mg of Calcium, 44 mg of Magnesium, 159 mg of potassium, 2 mg of Vitamin A, 50 mg of choline, 0.3 mg of Thiamine or B1, 2.5 mg of Riboflavin or B2, 1 mg of Nicotinic Acid or B3, 500 mg of Vitamin C, 23.5 mg of Vitamin E, 35 mg of Potassium, and 3.4 mg of Iron. There are many micro nutrients that cannot be measured. The chlorophyll has many great health benefits. It contains many factors that are anti-inflammatory, provide antioxidants, provide elements that have nothing but positive effects on the body. Much of the benefits in the Moringa cannot be easily tracked for each pound of product. They are a part of Moringa as a whole food. It takes hundreds of dollars to analyze product for micro nutrients. Testing period is costly.

Should you discontinue your multi-vitamin after starting Moringa supplements is addressed in the full article below at the article directory website.

Friday, September 23, 2016

Fall is here and temperatures here in TN are down to the low 50's at night. The hummingbirds are gone a month early so I feel that is a sign of an early winter. I decided it was time to bring my Neem and Moringa trees in the house and get them situated. I wanted also to try out the new grow lights on the plants. The lights had almost 1000 comments, most of them great. One thing I learned from the comments is placing the lights too close can damage them. Even thought these do not put out heat, it still can be an issue. Directions come in the bulbs. We will see how these grow lights affect the Neem seedlings which seem to be stuck in growth. These will not run up your light bill, they are 12 Watt LED lights designed for plant growth.

Last year did not go well with the trees in the back room. Even with the heater on, they did not thrive nor survive. I had them in the back room to keep our cats, especially one of ours, from eating the trees. He ate several babies last year down to the ground. I did not grow a lot of trees this year because they all have to come back into the house for the winter months. I lost the big ones I had during the winter. I put them out on the porch in the sun, forgot them, it rained and they got really soaked. They never did dry out properly after that. Will grow more next year. This year with bringing his dad back to live with us, I wanted less work to do. Now that things have smoothed out, I can do more outside and with the trees.

I am posting pictures today of the kitchen set up and I want you to look at it carefully on why I arranged things the way I did. So far its been two weeks and all the plants have survived our cats. We have one who is really bad about eating things he shouldn't. That is Smokey, the cat in front.

Picture #1 shows their placement in the kitchen. The kitchen window on the right has several lanterns on the windowsill? That is to keep the cats from walking the windowsill edge to jump into the pots. My juicer is sitting on the edge of the sink to make it harder for him to reach the other windowsill. I use it there anyway

1st picture of their new home for the winter in the kitchen. One Moringa is 4 feet and the rest are smaller.

The 20 gal containers are put up on small metal patio tables to make it harder for them to get into the containers.

The plastic plant drain tray underneath was purchased from Amazon to catch any water drainage. They are very heavy duty and sturdy. They run around $15-20 dollars a piece, often on sale. The plant in the middle is located in the middle of the freezer area and the end of our sink. This is again to make it harder for them to jump into. The plants are between the two best windows in the kitchen. I have the curtains pulled back to let in more light. Picture #5 shows the new grow light we bought with led lights. Uses very little electricity and gives a beautiful glow to the kitchen corner. Anyone could see by looking in the window, we are NOT growing anything illegal. The light was $20 bucks on sale on Amazon. They are guaranteed to last a year. The light needs to be on 12 hours a day to do the job.

Grow light over plants #5 You can see the one tall Moringa is this picture. I took all its leaves off due to a spider mite infestation outside. It is just now growing back more leaves and branches.

Keeping the cats from invading the plant soil and eating your plants is a challenge. I use wooden barbecue skewers with the point up. It has worked so far. Does not feel good on cat paws or chins.The largest tree here is the Neem on the left. It does not taste good so the cats are not prone to eating that. It still has the sticks in it to keep them from using it as a toilet.

#3 barbecue wooden skewers from the Dollar Store. These little trees are still struggling with several finally breaking out and growing more. These are seedlings that got frozen on the way over here. I have refused to give up on them. I am hoping the grow lights make the difference in getting them moving.

The white powder in the bottom of the containers is Food Grade Diatomaceous earth which will keep the gnats and flies from breeding in the soil. All these plants don't need much water so that helps. The DE does not work well when wet. They will need very little water inside. Don't bring the plant containers in soaked. Let them dry out outside before bringing them indoors. They will not dry out and root rot will kill the trees.

DE will not hurt any of the animals if they ate it or got their paws in it. It is only kills insects and spiders. Put the DE immediately over the soil after bringing the plant inside. Watch for spider mite infestation. I am going to spray them them C. Silver not that I am making my own. That will be a good test for it this winter.

This is top of the tallest one. It is just now growing back leaves.

All these Neem trees were from the same batch...only two really took off. They do grow slowly over the first two years without a greenhouse.

#3 Neem tree almost 4 feet high

#4 Neem plant growing back after leaves were pulled off due to a problem. It seems to love the grow light. I had it out on the porch and it was not doing much out there. See the little branches breaking out of the stem.

I have been using Cat's Claw for years after a car accident where I broke ribs, took the dashboard out with my knees, and compromised my kidney. Even though that was years ago, I still have some after affects from that nearly deadly accident. It was in the years where seat belts were not required yet. I fell asleep at the wheel and landed straddled over a concrete water canal in El Centro. I sat there for a long time in pain with broken ribs before emergency came and got me safely out of my truck and onto solid ground. Most cars end up face down in those canals with dead drivers. Every year a number of people drown in those canals. I was divorced then with no insurance so after a trip to emergency, they sent me home. They did not realize I had a concussion either. Short term memory loss was an everyday frustration for over a year. One of the positive things was my great chiropractor then, who I used every week. It was his healing help over many weeks and some effective anti-inflammatory herbs that over time got me back on my feet. One of these herbs was Cat's Claw along with INF from New Sun that is an anti-inflammatory combination of Chinese herbs. I still take it because it supports my kidneys that have not been the same since that car accident. I really believe in Cat's Claw and the other herbs I take. When I was on vacation twice, I did not take them as I normally do. Within a few days, pain came back in my knees and hands. Today I published an article on Cat's Claw in my article directory. I am a Master Herbalist, but a medical researcher as well. I love research and discovery of new information. Often, a short blog cannot cover a topic deeply enough to satisfy my sense of education. My passion is real education not entertaining blogs about fashion or beauty. I love natural medicine and teaching people about the problems with drugs and standard medicine. I feel it is my mission to set people on a path for real healing, not drugs that are given for one health problem and create 10 more deadly ones. Many of you are being led into a life that consists of better living? through drugs, chemicals, and additives. In the future I am going to be publishing more in-depth articles on different topics. I will give a brief glimpse into the article in hopes you will read the full article in the directory. Your time will not be wasted.Cat's Claw is an amazing herb with benefits for painful arthritis, even RA. It is a great immune booster and has shown a list of benefits you won't believe. It is one of my standards for healing myself and others. So the article is here. Please read the article here and learn how it might just help with your health problem.

I have been using Cat's Claw for years after a car accident where I broke ribs, took the dashboard out with my knees, and compromised my kidney. Even though that was years ago, I still have some after affects from that nearly deadly accident. It was in the years where seat belts were not required yet. I fell asleep at the wheel and landed straddled over a concrete water canal in El Centro. I sat there for a long time in pain with broken ribs before emergency came and got me safely out of my truck and onto solid ground. Most cars end up face down in those canals with dead drivers. Every year a number of people drown in those canals. I was divorced then with no insurance so after a trip to emergency, they sent me home. They did not realize I had a concussion either. Short term memory loss was an everyday frustration for over a year. One of the positive things was my great chiropractor then, who I used every week. It was his healing help over many weeks and some effective anti-inflammatory herbs that over time got me back on my feet. One of these herbs was Cat's Claw along with INF from New Sun that is an anti-inflammatory combination of Chinese herbs. I still take it because it supports my kidneys that have not been the same since that car accident. I really believe in Cat's Claw and the other herbs I take. When I was on vacation twice, I did not take them as I normally do. Within a few days, pain came back in my knees and hands. Today I published an article on Cat's Claw in my article directory. I am a Master Herbalist, but a medical researcher as well. I love research and discovery of new information. Often, a short blog cannot cover a topic deeply enough to satisfy my sense of education. My passion is real education not entertaining blogs about fashion or beauty. I love natural medicine and teaching people about the problems with drugs and standard medicine. I feel it is my mission to set people on a path for real healing, not drugs that are given for one health problem and create 10 more deadly ones. Many of you are being led into a life that consists of better living? through drugs, chemicals, and additives. In the future I am going to be publishing more in-depth articles on different topics. I will give a brief glimpse into the article in hopes you will read the full article in the directory. Your time will not be wasted.Cat's Claw is an amazing herb with benefits for painful arthritis, even RA. It is a great immune booster and has shown a list of benefits you won't believe. It is one of my standards for healing myself and others. So the article is here. Please read the article here and learn how it might just help with your health problem.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Its a beautiful day here in TN. Before I get into the main blog, I have some thoughts on living in TN and acclimating to the South. We will have lived here two years in Jan.

Part of our property where the chickens run free in the afternoon.

Fall is here and it is cooling down. Soon the leaves will begin falling. When we moved here, we were overwhelmed with the amount of leaves to rake with over three acres consisting of rocks, trees, and hilly terrain. I was overwhelmed with the power mowing. Most people here in TN have riding lawn mowers with multiple acreage. It is now almost two years later, we now tackle it as any huge job, one area at a time. We work together to rake and mow the areas. We don't think, we work. The leaves go to the chicken coop yard, which they love. They get excited when we add new leaves. They scratch and look for bugs. The leaf work goes to a great cause, which makes it more enjoyable.

As an overly independent woman, I learned the real value of working together here in TN. It would be so difficult if only one of us had to do ALL of it. The more we are together, the more I learn the value of a partnership working together. I was always one to enjoy working on my own, doing the job, and getting it done. I chose work where I knew my job and did it, not needing supervision. I am internally driven and motivated. There is value to that as well. It seems in life though, that there are jobs that are just so much easier when tackled by a team or partnership. I have learned that asking for help with a project, is not a weakness but a sign of seeing the value of added expertise or brawn. My husband can command the power mower on the side of the bank much better than I can. He does much better with chain saws. I am just not as strong as he is. It takes so much stress off, to give him those jobs.

So in my middle age, I have learned to be a team player and that is good. I think that personalities who play by themselves all too well, need to become more moderate, learning to know when to combine forces to make life easier.

I can honestly say, my husband has taught me so much about love and the value of working together over the years. He has also infused in me a sense of humor, which was lacking from a too serious German personality. I was 20 before I learned how to smile. I have two older sisters and it seems I inherited the more serious German nature from my father. Germans are hard workers but need more laughter and humor to counterbalance the work side. Laughter lightens the load and creates laugh lines rather than frown lines. I so wish I had learned that earlier in life.

How will you protect your Moringa this winter?It is time to consider steps to safeguard your Moringa for the coming cooler temperatures. Are you going to leave it outside or bring it indoors? One freeze will kill them.

Keep track of the lows each week, so you can save your winter sensitive plants. I have a whole patio of them including three or four 20 gal containers. This year they are going to the kitchen where we keep the heater on and where there is more light. They did not survive well in the back room, even with a heater. Both Neem and Moringa lost all their leaves. Not all the Moringa survived. They did not dry out at all in the back room which led to root rot on several. I left them out on the porch and there was an unexpected rain. It drenched them. They never dried out properly from that mistake. I have them right now on the front covered porch. We get so much rain and many surprise showers, that I cannot leave them out in the open yard. The Neem trees are hardier than the Moringa. I have one Neem that is 3 feet high. The rest are still small. The first 2 years are slow for Neem seedings, unless you have a greenhouse.

Article published on Autism yesterday. I published an article yesterday in my article directory on the risk of Vitamin C deficiency with autistic children. I would suggest that all children these days are prone to vitamin deficiencies, because of the junk they eat such as soda and high sugar foods. If you know anyone with an autistic child, pass on the article. If you have children, I suggest you read it. Here is the article here.

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